Pulling Away
by klutzysunshine
Summary: Angie and Will are thrilled to discover they have a baby on the way but he's concerned when she starts pulling away from him and tries to do everything on her own.


When the pregnancy test came up positive, a thrilled Angie and Will hugged each other and kissed quite a few times. His hand eventually wandered to her stomach. "We made a baby," he told her, grinning from ear to ear.

"Don't make it gross," she chided.

"You're still holding something you peed on," he pointed out.

She grimaced and launched the test into the garbage can, making sure to cover it up so no one else saw. "I can't believe I got knocked up on purpose this time. And it only took us like three weeks to conceive. Probably! Still need to make a doctor's appointment to confirm."

He kissed her again."You can call when we get out of here. Thank God the kids aren't home right now." Will had a feeling Sophie would be pretty excited but it was harder to tell with Graham.

"I love you," she murmured as she dragged him out of the bathroom and pulled him towards the kitchen, phone in hand so she could make an appointment with her OB/GYN.

"I love you too," he told her.

* * *

As Angie's pregnancy progressed, she started pulling away from Will a bit, which concerned him. "She's acting weird," Poppy observed.

Will let out a breath. "Oh thank God I'm not the only one who sees it. It's like she feels she has to do this alone. Maybe Derek screwed her up more than I thought."

Poppy snorted. "Derek fucked her up way more than we all thought. Be there for her, Will - show her you're not going to leave."

He threw his hands up in frustration. "Do you really think I haven't tried that already? Poppy, I'm going with her to every appointment and am fixing up the nursery!"

"Just a suggestion. Don't snap at me," Poppy chided.

"Sorry."

She shrugged. "Eh, don't worry about it. I know Angie's got you on edge right now." She smiled at him and then got back to work.

When Will got home, he found Angie eating in the kitchen. "Cravings again?" he asked knowingly.

"Cravings. This baby loves Doritos. And ice cream. Oh my God, do you think I can eat them at the same time?" Angie considered it for about thirty seconds, not even caring about the disgusted look on her husband's face.

"You're going to try it no matter what I say, aren't you?" Will shuddered and headed to the freezer to grab a carton. He set it down. When it thawed a bit, Angie dipped a Dorito into the ice cream.

"Oh my God, that is amazing."

"Whatever you say." Will grimaced and sat down next to her. "Everything okay?"

"What do you mean?" Angie stared at him in confusion before going back to her vile concoction.

Will lost his courage. "Nothing. How's the baby?"

Angie put a hand on her stomach and winced when the baby kicked. "That's my bladder, kid. Again." She stood up, kissed Will, and then made her way to the bathroom. Will stole a few Doritos from the bag but completely avoided the ice cream. When his wife returned, she grabbed her notepad and started writing.

"What are you doing?"

"Coming up with a list of shit we need for this baby. I can run to the store and find a crib, right?"

"I'm going with you," he reminded her.

She waved him off. "Yeah, sure."

"I'm serious. We're going tomorrow."

Angie looked up at him. "You really want to?" she asked, genuinely surprised and not really sure why.

"Of course I want to - this is my baby too."

The baby started kicking up a storm and Angie winced, rubbing her stomach. "Hey, I'm trying to get shit done here and I can't do that when you're playing soccer with my insides," she admonished. And of course, the baby didn't listen, instead choosing to continue the kicking. "You're lucky I love you because the fact that I'm stuck with you inside me for another two months is exhausting," she joked.

Will watched her talk to their child in fond amusement. God, he couldn't wait until this baby was here and their little family of four grew to five. Angie's odd behavior still worried him but he hoped she'd return to normal soon. The pregnancy was probably screwing with her head, which he understood completely. "I love you both."

She looked up at him. "Sap."

* * *

Angie's odd behavior continued and Will was too afraid to bring it up so they were at an impasse (Poppy called them both morons, which he couldn't argue with). When she went into labor, Will refused to leave her side even when she tried numerous times to kick him out. But once she grabbed his hand and refused to let go, he figured everything was about to return to normal (well, their new normal, anyway).

Valerie Amelia Cooper came into the world after fifteen hours of labor at five in the morning. An exhausted Angie broke down into tears when their daughter was placed on her chest. "Look at her. We made this tiny little thing," she sobbed.

An awed Will also couldn't stop crying. "We have three kids now," he whispered. Little hard to wrap his head around but that was probably the lack of sleep talking.

Angie looked up at him as tears poured down her face. "Yeah, we do." When Will kissed her temple, she smiled. "I'm sweaty as hell right now and you're kissing me?"

"You're beautiful and just gave birth to our child. Of course I'm kissing you." Will let her bond with Valerie for a little while before his impatience got the best of him and he held his arms up. Angie reluctantly handed their newborn over, visibly nervous. "This isn't my first rodeo, Ange. I got this," he assured her.

"I know you do." Unconvinced, Angie watched Will and Valerie before the exhaustion finally caught up to her and she fell asleep.

* * *

Once home, Angie's behavior continued to worry Will. He'd wake up to take care of the baby when she started crying only to find his wife already dealing with the situation. "You know I'm here, right? You're not doing this by yourself."

She looked up at him after changing Valerie's diaper yet again. "Yeah, I know. But I'm constantly on alert, waking for her to wake up, and I got to her first."

"You always get to her first." Will just wished he could get it through her head that he wasn't Derek and he had no plans to leave.

"It's not a big deal." Angie sat down in the rocking chair and waited for the baby to fall back asleep. When she did, Will scooped her up and placed her in the crib.

Angie blinked at him, yawned, and then went back to bed. And she was up first thing when Valerie started crying again an hour and a half later.

Will finally snapped the next night. "Let me take care of our daughter! You're running yourself into the ground, Angie! And I'm here - you're not a single mother this time around. Hell, Sophie and Graham are even helping as much as they can." They complained about it a lot of the time, sure, but she didn't need to know that.

"I know that," she murmured but she didn't sound persuaded.

"Angie, we're married. And I'm not Derek! Hell, Derek's even giving you child support now and visits every weekend."

She bit her lip as tears welled up in her arms. "I know that logically but I'm having a hard time accepting it. I did everything on my own when Graham was born. And then yeah, I had you and the others but I was raising that kid by myself. And I don't want you to leave me - I know you won't - but I can't get myself to accept it. You're so good with Valerie - Sophie and Graham too - and I love how much you worship the ground all three of them walk on." Angie blinked back the tears and folded her into herself as months of nervous energy finally came pouring out.

Will rushed to her side and pulled his wife in for a hug. "I love you, Angie. And all three of our kids. I promise you that I'm not going anywhere. And if the worst happens? I'm still going to be here."

She nodded and buried herself in his chest, feeling light for the first time since the pregnancy test confirmed what she already knew. "Got it."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure."

Valerie grew up with two parents and siblings who loved her, and she never doubted it for a second. Angie and Will's relationship strengthened once her issues were finally out in the open, and no one was surprised when they added to their family again two years after Valerie's arrival.


End file.
